POWER FOR APIA

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 59, 7 September 1926, Page 8

POWER FOR APIA

HYDRO-ELECTRIC SCHEME,

(Special to "The Evening Post.")

AUCKLAND, This Day.

Within the next eighteen months, it is anticipated, a hydro-electric scheme will be in operation in Samoa, and Apia will have an efficient service in all its forms. Mr. 6. Meidccke, Chief Government Mechanical and Electrical Engineer at Apia, who arrived yesterday by the Tofua,. said that Mr. F. W. Furkert, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, was making arrangements for the purchase of suitable equipment while in England. The scheme will be carried out under the supervision of Mr. Meidecke. It is proposed to harness the Viasango River, which flows near Apia, and the work will involve the making of a small dam in addition to deflection works for surplus waters. The power from the station will be 100 kilowatts—quite sufficient for the needs of Apia. The scheme is expected to cost approximately £20,000. At present Apia is served only by a temporary electric lighting scheme, used only for lighting. When the new scheme is working, the 1200 people who will benefit by it will be able to have electric fans and electric stoves and irons. This will be an inestimable advantage on the tropical island, where the heat makes cooking by other means often unbearable. There is no doubt the new scheme will be popular. Mr. Meidecke said it would prove a great boon. It is difficult to state exactly when the work will bo commenced, but he thought it would be completed within a year after the commencement. Accompanied by Mrs. Meidecke, Mr. Meidecke is on a four-months holiday visit^to New Zealand, and will inspect the New Zealand hvdro-electric schemes.